Comment 24 – comments and feedback

Martina Berardicurti

I am writing on behalf of myself and the residents who live South of Britannia Road and north of Thomas Street which will be affected by the proposed boundary change that would see us become part of Meadowvale if adopted. Many have asked me to write on their behalf as they believe that their efforts would be futile but are very upset by this matter.

First, I'd like to mention that most of the residents were and I'm sure many still remain unaware of the proposed changes as the method used to notify residents in a flyer like manner by our MP was ineffective.

In any case, we are very strongly opposed to this proposal. Erin Mills and Meadowdale are very different in many ways. Meadowvale has a very different feel and as Erin Mills residents we simply don't relate.

We have our own strong sense of community in Erin Mills that has been built up over decades. Erin Mills is also a newer area and much more vibrant. We have our community organizations that we are involved in and would like to keep them the same. We are also concerned that the highly rated high schools in our area will be out of our boundary in the future. Many of us have lived in Erin Mills for the past 30 years and have taken great care to preserve it. One of my neighbours even received a Citizen's Certificate of Recognition from the city for all of his dedicated volunteer work in maintaining the area.

We also find the new boundaries confusing. We are in the heart of Erin Mills being located just off of Erin Mills Parkway and a short walk from Erin Mills Town Centre. Yet we see that residents living quite a distance from the heart of Erin Mills would be considered part of Erin Mills while we would not. Also, we don't agree that Streetsville should become part of Erin Mills as it has its own heritage which needs to be preserved. We believe these new boundaries will cause a lot of confusion with mixing of postal codes and train stations that have one side of the tracks in one area and the other side in another.

Also, we feel that we have been treated unfairly and there has been no transparency regarding this matter. The vast majority of residents did not receive any notification about this proposal and those who did have had very little time to react especially in the midst of a municipal election. We have not received any clear explanation as to why this is taking place and/or how you arrived at these boundary changes. We were hoping to get more information and have our questions answered during the virtual meeting, but we did not. We have asked our MP but either could not get our questions answered or did not receive a reply at all. We feel that we are being kept in the dark with regards to this issue and find it extremely unfair that this process is continuing and may even conclude with some residents still completely unaware that it is taking place.

In closing, we the residents feel that the proposed change to our boundary is very unfair and are strongly opposed to it. We implore you to explore other options in order to keep our area from south of Britannia Road to Thomas Street within the Erin Mills boundary. We ask that you leave Streetsville intact and possibly move the southern border further north from Dundas Street so that parts of Erindale would remain in Erindale rather than being part of Erin Mills.

We would all greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter.

Thanking you in advance,

Martina Berardicurti and all Opposed Residents of Erin Mills

Attachment:

To: The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission of Ontario

Please find attached a 15 page Petition by the residents of Erin Mills (specifically the area south of Britannia Road and north of Thomas Street) that are opposing the proposed boundary changes.

Please note that the number of opposed residents who appear on this petition in no way reflects the actual number of residents that are opposed but rather resident unavailability (especially during an election) and a short time frame with which to submit written submissions.

Total: 16 pages including this cover

Petition

Changes to Boundary for Mississauga—Erin Mills

Dear Members of the Federal Electoral Commission,

We the undersigned, are residents of Erin Mills living south of Britannia Road and north of Thomas Street.

We are very strongly opposed to the current proposal to change the boundary for Erin Mills from Britannia Road to Thomas Street which would leave our area to become part of Meadowvale. Meadowvale is very different from Erin Mills even though it is in close proximity. We know that the property values in Meadowvale are different and we know that we will be negatively impacted by this if this proposal is adopted. We are concerned that the highly rated high schools in our area will no longer be considered within our boundary should the provincial government adopt these new boundaries as well. We also have a strong sense of community and community organizations that we would not want to see changed.

We also do not agree that Streetsville should become part of Erin Mills. Streetsville has its own heritage which needs to be preserved. We live in the heart of Erin Mills and that is where we should stay. The new boundaries would see people who live quite a distance from the heart of Erin Mills actually be part of Erin Mills while we would not. We find this extremely unfair.

Therefore, we respectfully ask that you explore other options in order to keep our area within the Erin Mills boundary such as moving the southern border of Dundas further north.

Thanking you in advance.

The Residents of Erin Mills

Residents - Please write your name and address on the following page if you wish to join this petition. By adding your name to this petition you agree to have it sent to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission and may be added to their website.

Petition — Opposed to Mississauga—Erin Mills Boundary Changes

By joining this petition you agree to have it sent to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission and may be added to their website.